Working wood

There was an exhibit of the beautiful wood carvings of Dusty Humphries, Sr. at the Longhouse of Peninsula College in Port Angeles recently.

Humphries’ work features traditional Native American themes. These handmade tools were part of the display.

Most tool users can appreciate the beauty of these pieces.

Can you make out the piles of wood chips in this old photograph? This is a massive tree trunk being worked into a traditional Native American boat, chip by chip. The Native woodworker here is using an adz, variations of which are shown in the top photos. The man was photographed around 1914-15 by Fannie Taylor, an early postmistress in Mora, an early white settlement on our coast that no longer exists. This photo was in an office in the Longhouse.

Come back tomorrow to have a look at some of the work of Dusty Humphries, Sr.

2 thoughts on “Working wood”

  1. The wood carvers create some of the most beautiful pieces. We used to have a wooden bowl carved by an Alaskan Native. I gave it to a friend when we moved, she always admired it.

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